John Reed

Background

John Reed was born on January 6, 1757 in Hesse-Cassel, Germany. Nothing is known of his parents or of his youth.

Career

He was among the mercenaries sent by Frederick II to aid the forces of George III in the American Revolution. After serving in the northern campaigns, he was transferred to the South and seems to have been among the "number of Hessian soldiers (who) deserted the British Army, after the siege of Savannah, and found their way to the German settlement on Dutch Buffalo Creek" in Mecklenburg, now Cabarrus County, North Carolina.

He purchased a tract of land in 1784, increased later by grants from the state, and began farming.

While fishing in Meadow Creek in 1799, Conrad Reed, twelve-year-old son of John, found a lump of yellow metal which was used as a doorstop in the Reed home until 1802. At his wife's suggestion, Reed took the metal to a silversmith in Fayetteville, North Carolina, who pronounced it gold and paid Reed three dollars and fifty cents for it.

Reed began to search for the precious metal and in 1803 discovered a nugget which weighed twenty-eight pounds and for which he received $8, 000. Other large nuggets were discovered and Reed became comparatively wealthy. He feared that his neighbors, suspicious of him as a former British soldier and envious of his suddenly acquired wealth, might persecute him for illicit practices.

Therefore, he associated with Frederick Kisor, his brother-in-law, the Rev. James Love, and Martin Pfifer, one of the leading citizens of the state, and began mining operations. Reed supplied the land and his associates provided the capital and labor, the profits being divided equally. The enterprise was successful and others began to search for gold. By 1830 some 30, 000 miners were at work in North Carolina and activities had spread to Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. Gold mining became second in economic importance to agriculture in North Carolina, and in 1836 a branch mint was opened at Charlotte.

The Reed mine was the most noted in the entire region. At first the placers were worked with pick and pan and with little scientific management. Later, Reed built a machine for washing the gold from the sand and gravel.

In 1831, he opened a vein mine, and shafts were sunk several hundred feet into the ground. Steam power was applied and the mine worked on an extensive scale until 1835 when he secured an injunction against his partners for alleged fraudulent returns, and operations were temporarily suspended. Yielding nuggets remarkable both in size and in number, the total production of the mine from 1803 to 1845 was estimated at $10, 000, 000.

He died in Cabarrus County, North Carolina.

Achievements

• Reticent about his military career and his ancestry, unable to read and write, he was nevertheless able to win the confidence and respect of his associates, and to manage successfully a large slave plantation and mining establishment.

Politics

Reed took little interest in politics and while he exercised citizenship rights, such as voting, jury service, and membership on local government boards, he did not become naturalized until shortly before his death.

Connections

He married Sarah Kisor, daughter of a refugee from Charleston, South Carolina, and reared a family of eight children.

Spouse:

Sarah Kisor